In Praise Of Minor White

Walter Glover
Posts: 1270
Joined: 31 Jul 2012, 22:31
Location: Leichhardt, NSW

In Praise Of Minor White

Postby Walter Glover » 10 Oct 2021, 23:44

The Modernists were exemplified by Edward Weston who, in his 'Daybooks', famously said, "To see the Thing Itself is essential, The quintessence revealed direct without the fog of impressionism". It was probably as a rebuttal of the earlier Pictorialists, Then, a generation later, Minor White suggests, "One should not only photograph things for what they are but for what else they are."

The brief was to include a pic of a faux skylight over a spiral stairwell which I did as requested:

Image


But then I did a wider B&W view for myself and Turned the shot upside down to show something that had been staring at me on the ground glass.

Image
Walter Glover

"We see things not as they are. We see them as we are."
Emanuel Kant

John Power
Posts: 94
Joined: 26 May 2021, 10:18

Re: In Praise Of Minor White

Postby John Power » 11 Oct 2021, 07:02

Absolutely sensational! When you mention "the brief" did you do this work always with film?
I'd not heard of Minor White before this.

Mick Fagan
Posts: 412
Joined: 24 Sep 2015, 21:20
Location: Melbourne

Re: In Praise Of Minor White

Postby Mick Fagan » 11 Oct 2021, 07:43

Very intuitive Walter.

Your Minor White flip, in combination with the wider area seen, has a pupil and iris, while the balustrade is a wonderful replacement for an eyebrow.

Walter Glover
Posts: 1270
Joined: 31 Jul 2012, 22:31
Location: Leichhardt, NSW

Re: In Praise Of Minor White

Postby Walter Glover » 12 Oct 2021, 00:06

John Power wrote:When you mention "the brief" did you do this work always with film?
I'd not heard of Minor White before this.


Observatory Tower was originally the IBM Building and it underwent extensive redevelopment as a residential conversion completed in 1996 which is when I documented the building for the architect. You might not believe it but Digital meant something related to fingers back then and digital photography was science fiction and rumour. Film was King and architecture was the realm of the adjustable camera and sheet film. Of course, for "we few, we happy few, we band of brothers" sheet film is still king but, like the recently wed Romanoff, they would consign us to live in exile.

Possibly Minor White's most lasting legacy, along with his teaching, was Aperture Magazine which begat Aperture Publishing.
Walter Glover

"We see things not as they are. We see them as we are."
Emanuel Kant

John Power
Posts: 94
Joined: 26 May 2021, 10:18

Re: In Praise Of Minor White

Postby John Power » 12 Oct 2021, 07:30

Really cool that you share that experience :) A mate of mine makes her living shooting homes for magazines and books and I hope (when we can travel interstate again) to take my camera down to her and let her play with it to see what was possible with these cameras.

For what its worth, the first camera that I bought for myself was a nikon film SLR in 2000. I was 20 and I didn't use it as much as I should have, but remember a few good ones that came out of it.

Walter Glover
Posts: 1270
Joined: 31 Jul 2012, 22:31
Location: Leichhardt, NSW

Re: In Praise Of Minor White

Postby Walter Glover » 12 Oct 2021, 21:55

John,
I also served some time beforw the mast Shooting for habitat and, to a lesser extent, lifestyle, magazines. Thankfully I managed to dodge the bullet of RealEstate ads. There are distinctive headspaces you need to dip in and out of for each of those arenas and overarching all of the creative aspirations and advantages of production techniques looms the ogre that, largely, publishers are no longer moneyed folk with 'ink in their veins' but Merchant Bankers who devalue panache and style to being simply a commodity in the production of a dividend for investors.
The most valuable bit of kit when with you when you venture forth to shoot is being an AMATEUR. Not in the demeaned spirit of 'not being a PRO', but in the trues sense of the word of 'one whose primary motivation is not financial reward but LOVE.
When I was in my 20s I worked for a guy who was Australia's first £pound£ millionaire photographer who'd boast that the thing that Photography and Prostitution had in common was that both professions were stuffed up by amateurs.
As you get out learning about your photography you'll experience great satisfaction and adulation, but the moment you make your hobby your job, you just lost your hobby. And your friend might love your Horseman L and what it can do but these days budgets for money, time, and effort might fall long short. Have fun.
Walter Glover

"We see things not as they are. We see them as we are."
Emanuel Kant


Return to “Things”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 20 guests